Container



Dec. 8, 1953 G. TRAUTVETTER CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 24, 1949 m im GEORGE 77%?077 5772/5" ATTORNEY CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 24, 1949 GEO/iGE 77/7 7 14 7727? ATTOR N EY Patented Dec. 8, 1953 2,661,872 CONTAINER George Trautvetter, J enkintown, Pa., assignor to Heintz Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a. corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 24, 1949, Serial No. 123,225

1 This invention relates to containers, and more particularly to metallic containers of the type used for transporting chemicals in liquid form, although many of the features which are found for the first time in the container to be described in this specification will be useful in other types of containers, and such use is consideredto fall within the inventive concept which is about to be described.

Chemicals in liquid form are transported in this country almost exclusively in large glass bottles, protected by wood crates, and known as carboys. The cost and breakage rate involved is high, and l for many years industry has been searching for a new type of container which could supplant the old ones, and which would be more convenient to handle, would stand'rough'usage and handling, would not be attacked chemically by the substances transported, and which could be produced economically. Of outstanding importance in any such container are a combination of features which prior inventors have been unable to combine into a single container, namely stacking by use of mating parts on adjacent stacked containers, and the ability of the container to be emptied of the last drop of contents without the need for putting the container through a series of troublesome and time consuming maneuvers such as rolling, shaking, tumbling, etc, Other important features incorporated into the present invention along with the two outstanding ones just referred to are grips for convenient handling without adding gany parts, and location of a pouring spout so that not only is the complete emptying feature provided, but also the spout and its plug are protected at all times against blows which could so damage these parts as to render the entire container unuseable. The important feature of complete emptying which has already been discussed is of great value not only in assuring rapid emptying of the entire chemical contents, but equally important, the emptying of washing fluids. I

It is an important object of the invention to provide a container having the advantages set forth above. I i

Another outsanding object of the invention is the provision of a container having in combination the advantages of mating stacking structure and complete emptying without the trapping of fluids, during emptying, in portions of the containers which facilitate stacking.

- A further object of the invention is to provide a container which can be-made cheaply of cor-'- 4 Claims. (01. 222-143 2 V rosion resisting materials such as stainless steel by stamping operations and the welding together of several sections to-make the container., N

Another object of the invention is the provision of a containerfrom thin. stainless steel in such; a manner that the container has great strength and the ability. to withstand the. droppingand otherrough handling which go along. with ship-. ping by commercial carriers. In connection with this object of the invention, arcontainer made in accordancewith the preferred form of; the invention to be described herein,,has with; stood the followingsevere tests required bythe Interstate Commerce Commission, and asa result was approved by thatlbody for the interstate shipment of liquid chemicals: ,7 g V inthedrop tests the. container was filled to 98% capacity andwas dropped six feet, striking a. diagonally on plug on concrete floor, b. on head opposite plug on concrete floor,

0. on a longitudinally welded seam 'oneoncrete floor, d. on a circumferentially welded seam on an I bar rail, 9. on a longitudinally welded seam striking on an I bar rail, g f. on the juncture of longitudinally and circumferentially welded seams on an I bar rail, and g. on a bottom weld striking on a three inch diameter steel ball mounted on a steel base with the top of the ball six inches above the floor.

In all of these drop tests, as well as in the other tests to be described, the container tested was made of 16 gauge stainless steel type 304, the seams being inert gas shielded gas welded. The plug was of the screw type with a polyethylene gasket, and the capacity of the container was 15 gallons, nominal. The empty container weighed vz lpounds.

The drop tests described above dented the container but not enough to render it unuseable, and the only leakage took place "when a few drops of liquid escaped through the gasket on impact when the containerwas dropped on the head opposite the plug.

The container alsopassed successfully an 'im-' mersion test in water while containing 'dry 'air under lbs/sq. in. pressure, and a pressure test at the same pressure for five minutes, The gasket passed a test under a loading of 300 lbs/sq. in A corrosion test with nitric aid was also passed. f

The above and other objects of the invention will be more apparent from a study of the follow- Fig. 4 is a cross sectional. view taken. on. line.

44 of Fi 2;

Fig. is a cross sectional view taken on line:

5-5 of Fi 3;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line'lfiirof Fig; 3; thescalebeing;donblerthat of- Figs. 4.1-6.

Referring nowtoFig. 1 oftthe; drawings; there is shown v a container-made up of. a: central portiorr ifl'wvith upper and lower endiportions ii and I2 joined thereto by. welding: along lines ii and l4-, respectively. The centraliseetionlficomprises a strip formed with a pair of rolling, surfaces I5 and-- Hi, and having its endswelded together along a longitudinally extending line whichisinot shown: The configuration-.01- centralsection iii is not novel, the important considerations withrespect to this section being that the rolling surfaces-are formed in. such. manner that: no corners are formedin which fluid-i can. becomeentrapped during emptying, and that' the marginal portions of' the section blend-msmoothly. with the curves of theend portions l1! and i2; It will be seen that the central section is identical at each end so that it does not matter which-end receives an upper end: H and which endreceives a lower end-section I2.

The lower end section I? is formed of sheet material by stamping-or-other suitable operations, and is. dimensioned at its upper edge so as to meet the edge of' the central section in edge to edge engagement and to merge smoothly into the line of the center section; The outer wall ofjthe lower section i'Zfiares outwardly, and near itsextreme lower'end; it is provided at lflwith circumferential strengthening corrugations. A circular central identation 19* defines the inner limit, of the fiat, annular lower surface of the section, I2, as shown at 210:

Therindentation or cavity I9 has sidewall- 21 extending generally parallel with the axisof -the containento a point irwhence the wall 211 curves downwardly. to acentral'flat portion 23 which is spaced above the plane of the lowermost surface of the section. Centralflatporti'on 2,3'has a hole in its center which is utilizedi for the insertion of welding instruments into the interior of the container during manufacture,- after which thehole, shown at 24; is closed-bye permanent closure 25 which is seated in theholeby a press fit and is then welded about its periphery to-the outer surface of the container. 7

The cavity Win-the lower surface of-=thecontainer is usedin stacking and is dimensioned to receive a mating circular-rib=on-the upper surface of'the upperend section H as will-now be discussed in greater detaiL The lower portion of the-upperendsection H is shaped and dimensioned to meet the upper edge of the central section in in edgeto-edge-engagement and to merge smoothly into the curve of this section.

The upper portion of upper end section I I must be formed with great care, as it is the novel and ingenious configuration of this part of the container which is of first importance in providing the. desirablev features of the. container.

The sidewallsgof the end section M curve inwardly smoothly and merge into an annular flat portion 30 which extends in a complete circle about the upper end of the container, and which receives the flat, annular surface 20 of the container which is stacked above. The provision of these, two flat. surfaces on each container is of much importance in permitting the stacking of a number of containers in a self supporting stack which doesnot wobble dangerously.

Stacking is also made secure by an upstanding rib 3i on the upper end of end section II,

I immediately inwardly of the flat surface 30. The

outer, axially extending surface of rib 31 islocated. and dimensioned so as to fit snugly, but freely slidable within the indentation iii inthe bottom of the container'stacked above. Rib" 3+ does not complete an entire circle; asit is inter'- rupted as is evident" from Figs. 2- and 3; where the. opening, 33'. for the pouring spout 3 2 islocated. This pouring spout is" welded into" its opening, and is internally threaded to receive-a threaded plug 35' whichseals the pouring-opening with the aid, of a suitable annular gasket 38$ The plug has exterior andinteriorconfigurat-ions which permit the use of difierent' types of wrenches for tightening and removing the plug. As .canbe seen fromFig Z', the opening;33'- is positioned,,and,the plug is dimensioned so thatthe plug doesnot extend outsideof the'extension ofthe circle ofjtheouter surface-of the rib-3 I, otherwise it would, interfere with stacking;

The uppermost surface of rib- 3i lies'substantially ina plane, normal to' the axis of thecomtainer over most of the length-,of the rib,- and each end. of the rib slopes downwardly fromthis plane tomerge smoothly; into the upper surface of the end of. the container. at 35. The slopingportion. at. eachend. of the rib is shown at" 36 (see Fig. 6). It. is important that the" angle whichsurfaces 35' make witha plane normal to the axisof the container not besufficientlysteep topermit trapping of liquid in the corner 3617' shown in Fig. 6, andjin the containerwhich'was tested as described herein, this angle was 45 degrees. The curves at each end of these surfaces 3.6.wereformed about inch radii. For purposes of explanations whichv will follow, two points X can be locatedby extending the surfaccs .3fi. andtheplane of the upper edge ofrib 3| by imaginary lines, these points-X being 10- catedat theinterseotion of these lines as shown in Fig. 6.

inwardly of; rib..3l, the upper surface of" end section. It curves,- upwardly from a low point 38 (Fig. 4) located below. the. level-of surface 30; to the; plane of the opening 33',,tlie plane of'this opening being raisedabove all. otherportions of the end section H except for the rib. 3] andits sloping end portions. Lookingat-Fig, 4; it. will be: seen that the inner. surface can. of the cone tainer immediately surroundingthe opening 33 raised above-theinner surface of. the flat area an; and;a'boveallother portions of the curve extending from point; 381 to the; area; 33a, Fig; 5 shows arsectiontaken nearztheicenter point of opening33,.the section line;,ofithis-view cutting through the sloping surfaces 36. This view shows how the inner surface area 33a is raised, the area 39 being generally on a level with the areas 30. The sloping surfaces 36 terminate at the level of and blend into the area 39, so that they terminate lower than the area 33a. The importance of these various levels will be discussed presently. Fig. '7 shows in an enlarged manner the extent of the raising of area 33a over the area 30.

From the foregoing and a study of the drawings', it will be seen that the raised area 33a, as defined by the broken line 33b around the opening 33 (Fig. 3), provides a funnel-like configuration when the container is inverted during emptying.

The depression 38 located opposite the pouring opening provides a convenient hand grip when one hand of a user is placed about the adjacent portion of rib 3! with the fingers extend-' ing into depression 38, while the other hand grips a corresponding portion of the lowermost portion of the container, with the fingers of that hand extending into the indentation I9 and pressed against wall 2|.

The positioning of opening 33 and area 33a are quite critical, their location being governed by several factors. They cannot extend radially beyond the circle formed by extending the line of the outer vertical surface of rib 3|, for the raised area 33a cannot break the flatness of stacking surface 30 upon which the surface 20 of the next higher stacked container must rest. Neither the pouring spout nor the plug 35 may extend beyond this circle for they must not interfere with stacking, as they would if they blocked free sliding over rib 3| by the lower end of the container stacked above. On the other hand, the radially outermost limits of opening 33 must not be located closer to the axis of the container than a straight line connecting the radially outermost points on the two surfaces 36, as liquid could then be trapped in the end portions of rib 3|. In the embodiment shown, the section line 5-5 on Fig. 3 passes just inwardly of the center of opening 33 and normal to a radius passing through the center of opening 33, and from the location of this line it can be seen that a similar line passing through the center of opening 33 would pass approximately through the centerof each sloping surface 36.

Rib 3| should be as long as possible without violating the requirement just discussed, since .the steadiness of the stacking depends to a considerable extent upon the extent of the contiguous areas of wall 2| and the outer wall of rib 3|. The angle of each sloping wall 36 cannot be too steep or trapping at the intersection of walls 36 and the upper surface of rib 3| will result; If this angle is too fiat, the size of rib 3| becomes decreased unnecessarily. An angle of 45 for walls 36 proved to be the most efiicient angle, all factors being considered. Because of the fact that the liquid caught by rib 3| during emptying escapes from the rib along the inner'surfaces of sloping rib portions 36, the rib should blend into these sloping surfaces by a gentle curve. In the container tested as described herein, the curves 36a and 3622 were formed on inch radii. The

lateral edges of surfaces 36 also curve into the side surfaces of rib 3 I.

One other important requirement is that there not be any portions of the interior surface of the container located radially'outwardly of the stacking surface 30, which are higher'than themterior surface of this area, as this would permit trapping of fluid in such raised places.

The following are the dimensions and various measurements of the container which was tested as described herein:

Overall length -l 22 inches Greatest overall width 17 inches Length of lower section l2 5%, inches Length of central section I0 11 inches 3 Length of upper end section 5% inches Greatest depth of indentation l9 2% inches Width of indentation l9 91% inches Diameter of circle forming outermost 1 surface of rib 3| 9% inches Surface 30 to uppermost surface of rib 3| 1% inch Outside width of rib 3| inch Angle between points X 102 degrees Diameter of opening 33 3 inches Greatest diameter of flat portion 33a. 3% .inches Distance from axis to center of hole 33 3% inches Central area of upper end H from point 38 to surface 33a is spherical,

formed on radius of 14' inches Amount of raising of surface 33a over 3 plane of surface 30 inch 15 gallon level below plane of surface 30 approx 11 inches In emptying liquid from the container shown, the plug may be removed either by a male or female type of wrench. The container is then tilted as by rotating Fig; 1 counterclockwise from the upright position. If the container is held with its axis at approximately 45 above horizontal, the last bit of liquid will collect in the corner 50 of the container adjacent the pouring opening. No liquid can remain in the rib 3| because of the downward sloping disposition of the upper end of the container, and because of the angle of end portions 36 of the rib. From this position, the container is slowly tilted further to the completely inverted position during which the remaining liquid will run directly to the pouring opening'and out of the container, not a single drop being left.

Ifthe container is emptied by turningit immediately to an inverted position, the-contents would drain out except for a small portion remaining in the rib 3|. It is a simple matter to tilt the container toward an upright position with the pouring opening down, just sufficiently to permit the remaining contents to drain out of the rib 3| along the interior surfaces of sloping rib portions 36, until the remaining liquid collects in the "corner 50, after which it is easily drained as already described.

Because of the precise location of the pouring opening relative to the ends of rib 3| and'th e provision of raised portion 33a, the last bitof liquid remaining in corner 50 runs into the portion 33a and out of the opening rather than into the rib 3| during the final emptying operation, and it is impossible to trap liquid in any portion of the container. I v

The container described and shown herein provides for the first time a combination of complete emptying, interfitting stacking, ruggedness, light weight, relatively low cost, and ease of production in a container.

As the outer lateral surface of rib 3| can be in other configurations than circular, for example it could be along the major portion of the perimeter of a square, pentagon, hexagon, etc,

two end portions of said rib lies closer to the axis of the container than the radially outermost point of said opening, the level of the interior surface of the container immediately surrounding the opening being higher than any other interior portion of the container except those areas forming part of said rib.

GEORGE TRAUTVETTER.

References Cited in the file of this patent Number Number Name Date Dale Aug. 26, 1941 White Apr. 29, 1947 Hamilton et a1. Sept. 8, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Mar. 4, 1936 Great Britain Mar. 1, 1940 Norway Feb. 9, 1946 

